Kevin Durant’s move to the Golden State Warriors in 2016 remains one of the most controversial in the NBA in recent years. KD joined the team that had eliminated him the prior season, a 73-win team that didn’t need him to be successful. He earned a lot of criticism for that decision, but in the end, things were fine for him, as he won two NBA titles and two Finals MVP with the Warriors.
Back in 2016, Tracy McGrady explained why KD going to the Bay wasn’t a good move for him and why people were going to criticize him whenever they had the chance. Talking about if he joined a team like the Warriors in his prime, T-Mac said:
“In my prime? Absolutely not. I wouldn’t go team up with a team that possibly is coming off from winning two championships,” he said in an old interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols. “You’re just extra. What are you adding to a team that just won a championship? I think he’s talented enough to carry a team to win a championship, that’s the type of talent that he has. Go team up with Chris Paul in Los Angeles, go team up with Melo in New York. Team up with a team that hasn’t won a championship, that would be more gratifying to help a team that hasn’t won a championship.”
After that, the former shooting guard explained why he believed LeBron James joining the Miami Heat was a different story than KD joining the Warriors.
“I know a lot of people will be like ‘well, LeBron did it’. No, LeBron did it differently. Miami didn’t do anything before LeBron got there. They teamed up and they won championships together.”
(Feb. 2016) Tracy McGrady says Kevin Durant shouldn’t join the Warriors and explains how it’s different than LeBron going to Miami in 2010.
T-Mac kept it so real here. pic.twitter.com/55ZZxk8EL1
— Hilltop Hoops (@HilltopNBA) June 14, 2020
Perhaps T-Mac has a solid point there, but that won’t change a lot of people’s minds who think both moves were the same, weak and coward. While LeBron created a superteam, Durant joined one, it isn’t much different.
